Major political parties focus on legalities Polling places to be monitored By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will be disbursing 300-400 volunteers - many of them lawyers or law students - to select polling places across the state on Nov. 2, but so far, there might not be any in Brown County. Seth Boffeli, communications director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said lawyers and law students will be set up to observe poll workers. Some of them are coming from Indiana and Illinois. At the same time, Republican Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Chris Lato said the party is still ironing out its plans to protect each individual's right to vote. In the past, the party has established a toll free number where voters can find answers for election day questions or report suspect activity. Lato said the party wants to guard against felons casting ballots or voters trying to vote with false addresses. So many independent, get-out-the vote organizations registering voters warrants extra steps to ensure fair elections happen, he said. "We're just concerned we're heading for a train wreck on Nov. 2," he said. Bob Friebert, state council for the Democratic presidential and vice-presidential campaign, said plans are in the works for a statewide hotline on the part of Democrats as well. Poll watchers, third party observers, have been permissible at polling places. This election, lawyers are spending more time to predict possible legal conflicts over voting, Friebert said. "It's the direct result of what happened four years ago in Florida," he said. Lawyers are expected to approach a municipality's clerk should a question be raised about how the election is being carried out, but are not supposed to directly interact with poll workers, said David Minten, De Pere city clerk. Representatives of both parties said they hope there are no problems on election day. "We don't want the election to be decided by lawyers," Lato said, adding that voters are supposed to decide. Boffeli said some of the Democratic Party lawyers will be concentrated in Democratic areas with large minority populations and select neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha. Boffeli summarized the main goal for the Democratic Party in securing legal council. "We're just trying to make sure no one is turned away, and no one is intimidated from voting," he said. Voters registering at the polls should present two forms of identification, such as a driver's license or utility bill that has the voter's name and address on it. A new federal voting act permits unregistered voters who do not have the proper forms of identification with them at the polls to cast provisional ballots. The provisional ballots are counted if voters show proof of residency to their municipality's clerk by 4 p.m. the day after the election. Minten said De Pere has had to send out hundreds of letters to voters who believe they had completed registration through one get-out-the-vote campaign but because they might not have shown identification when signing up are not considered registered. Provisional ballots might prove especially useful because of that circumstance, he said. Sample ballots will appear in the newspaper the day before the election and are displayed on the Brown County Web site, www.co.brown.wi.us. Voters can determine their polling places at the Web site as well.